the washington region and a deep freeze. >> freezing, bitter cold. >> toff wind blowing through the area. tough questions about how the u.s. dealt with an attempt to

blow up an airliner. >> this was a breakdown. >> what the president is sang. and a local srts star under investigation. >> why would anyone bring a gun to their place of business? >> new allegations. captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- bitterly cold temperatures and gusty wind put the washington area in a deep freeze and the mercury has plunged, wind advisory in effect. steve rudin joins us with the details. >> a cold evening in the belfort furniture weather center, temperatures well below freezing. 40 m.p.h. wind, 21 degrees at reagan national. west virginia, 11 degrees. we have a wind advisory in effect for the entire metro area

from now until 4:00 in the morning, but it looks lke they may extend that into the daytime hours tomorrow as the wind will once again picked up out of the northwest, allowing for the wind chill factor to only make it into the couple single digits, low teens. tonight, scattered clouds, called and windy, 15-23 degrees. the windchill factor will make it feel just around zero. coming up, we will look at the forecast and the first full and work week for 2010. the deep freeze is causing problems for people tonight. john gonzalez joins us from northwest with how people are coping with the cold. >> it is truly and tense out here. the weather is affecting a lot of people. many people in georgetown say if they are out here too long, they

definitely lose their breath. people indoors are also losing something, their power. according to pepco, more than 2000 homes in montgomery county are in the dark. unfortunately, we met a couple to lead to lost something greater. their home caught fire from the wind. it the frigid wind was dangerous and clinton, maryland, today. >> i don't know what happened. >> he says he saw the wind- fuelled flames engulfing his home of 34 years. there was nothing he could do. how dangerously cold is it tonight? prince george's county firefighters were challenged by fire and ice. >> the weather is a contributing factor. the fire was wind-driven. it grew rapidly. >> the outdoor crowd this

saturday night was like, to say the least. those who ventured out, unthinkable for those who did not have a choice. >> it is colder than this time last year. >> and arlington, the wind gust has been around 30 m.p.h. >> my teeth are called. everything is cold. >> back in suitland, not the whether it is unforgiving. james cho say they could not afford their homeowner's insurance and they canceled it a few years ago. >> it will cost them a lot of money. because of the wind, 45 firefighters had to battle the blaze from different angles. one firefighter was rushed to hospital, suffering from exhaustion. he is expected to be okay. john gonzalez, abc 7 news. the powerful wind is being

blamed and southeast washington. a tree crashed down onto a car on pennsylvania avenue. lling trees also brought down power lines on branch avenue in southeast. the driver of the car was not injured. get the weather updates around the clock on our website, wjla.com. gilbert arenas speaks out about the gun allegations tonight. the washington wizards star is under investigation. he and a teammate are accused of pulling guns in the locker room. richard reeve is live at the verizon center. >> he spoke briefly with reporters after the game, saying essentially he could have used better judgment. the team owners also spoke out tonight. they felt that guns had no work place -- had no place in the workplace environment. filbert arenas had his share of

red hot moments against the spurs tonight. after the game, he came close to an apology for bringing guns to the verizon center. >> i could have shows better judgment. >> fans are asking pointed questions. >> why were they in the locker room? >> him as a role model and everything, he h to do better than that. >> the u.s. attorney's office and d.c. police are investigating after the new york post reported that arenas and a teammate drew guns on each other during a recent locker room to speak. >> it is an ongoing investigation. >> arenas and wizards have acknowledged he kept one or more unloaded guns in his locker. it tonight, he acknowledged he kept one or more of a loaded guns in his locker.

-- unloaded guns in his locker. am i try to get them out of the house. >> he gets paid all that money, no reason for him to walk around with guns. >> we were friends before, we are friends now. >> for now, he says they are friends again, but many fans are asking the same basic question. >> it was stupid. >> why? >> why does he have to carry around a gun. >> the owners issued this statement, "the fact that guns were brought to the rise in center is dangerous and disappointing and showed entirely poor judgment. the nba policy prohibits any kind of weapons inside their facilities. arenas is now the focus of a police investigation. richard reeve, abc 7 news. we will hear more of those locker room, from gilbert arenas coming up later in sports.

president obama reawill retn to washington tomorrow and for the first time today said al qaeda was behind the christmas day plot to blow up an airliner. president obama is going through the initial review he ordered after the attempted bombing of flight 253 and he says one thing is clear, umar farouk mittal doll -- umar farouk was part of the group. that it ordered him to attack that plane. >> the president said before the christmas day incident, his administration has been pursuing the group along with the al qaeda network. >> this is a breakdown from beginning to end. >> republicans have been critical of the president and his homeland security chief. >> she said the system worked on television last week. that shows she is out of touch. i don't think she is competent

enough. >> today, the president urged unity. >> remember this, our adversaries are those who attack our country, not fellow americans, not each other. >> the white house says it has been focusing money and attention on yemen for some time. british officials say the countries will fund a counterterrorism police unit in yemen. a prince george's county family is pleading for their missing daughter to come home. the two girls were last seen on december 29. the police say the girls are at a friend's house in suitland and have not been seen since. their parents have received reports that the girls were spotted on thursday at several places along marlboro pike. >> if you can call, call. we love you. we love you, and we miss you, and we want you home.

>> investigators say there are no signs of foul play but ask anyone with information call police. 1500 people gathered in salisbury to remember sarah foxwell, whose body was found christmas day. the police believe a registered sex offender, thomas leggs, is responsible for death. he has been charged with kidnapping and burglary, but more charges are expected. d.c. schools face more budget cuts, but michelle rhee said she will work to protect money for teachers and castor supplies -- and classroom supplies. the cuts stemng from falling tax revenue and a federal stimulus spending. the plan will be part of the overall city proposal announced by mayor fenty and the spring. the national park seice wants you to know what they're

thinking about improving the national mall, including upgrades to the mall grounds, bathrooms, food, and entertainment facilities, including a square for protests, using natural water source for the reflecting pool, and creating a cafe and entertainment space. some metro stations are about to undergo a major cleaning. 40 stations will get through cleanings and new paid jobs over the next year. metro says signs will be installed, platform edges and railings will be refinished. the work will be done in the middle of the night when the stations are closed. coming up, bitterly cold temperatures gripping the area. how long will the deep freeze stick around? a cartoonist under attack, a target for a controversial cartoon. and new details about the suicide bomber who killed seven cia agents in afghanistan.

laxatives? i've tried all these. this one's gritty. this one can make you bloated. clearly, miralax is the one for me. it relieves my constipation with no harsh side effects. miralax. restore your body's natural rhythm. ca continues to search for the bomber responsible for the attacks in afghanistan.

he was an informant for the cia who had been invited on the base multiple times and was not searched before being driven onto the base. the cia officers were part of a campaign to target a safe haven for militants near the border with pakistan. a man suspected of having ties with al qaeda faces several charges after trying to attack a danish cartoonists who drungs offended some muslims. he was wheeled into court on a stretcher. he tried to break into the cartoonist's home. he was a target after drawing caricatures of the prophet mohammad. a bittersweet goodbyes for thousands of service members and virginia. thousands of sailors and marines had one last day with their family as they left the naval station for a six-month deployment.

>> they have to get their job done. they will spend six months in the middle east on anti piracy efforts. morale is high and the men and women on board of have a job to do. a hero after rescuing three fisherman from rising river waters. . started falling on the gladstone river in oregon. they were stranded, but a father and son were swept away. >> he is my hero. he saved my life. >> the man used his boat to race to the victims, toss them life

jackets, and bring them to shore. parts of knowingly and got off to wait snow we start for 2010. -- parts of new england got off to wait snowy start for 2010. in addition to the snow, coastal areas are also seeing flooding. steve rudin joins us with the weather. that's no looks familiar. >> hard to believe it has been two weeks already since the big storm that brought 24 inches. nothing like that tonight. instead, the wind chill factor well into the single digits. look at the moon this evening. it was really beautiful. we look for that to give us a little bit of light tonight and once again for the nighttime hours tomorrow. outside, downtown, quiet, dry, windy.

the heavy wind has subsided a little bit. a pennsylvania avenue, the flag on the left-hand side of the screen, the west wind continues to blow. the weatherbug network, currently one degree below zero herndon wind chill factor, seven below in germantown, the actual reading of 14 degrees. high-temperature today, 30 degrees reagan national. current temperature of 21. this time of year, should have temperatures in the low 40's. well below average. looks like the cold air will stick around another several days. 18 hagerstown, 16 state college. the cold air is ofthe great lakes, 4 degrees chicago, seven degrees detroit. the low pressure spending up the east coast, moving out. the strong northwest wind with lake effect snow and western pennsylvania and western maryland. garrett county has a winter

storm warning in effect overnight into tomorrow, where they could pick up, ready for this? 6-12 inches of snow, higher elevations with 15 inches. for the rest of us, the wind advisory overnight. set to expire at 4:00 in the morning, but i have a feeling they will extend it into the daytime hours. it will be cold and blustery, daytime highs on late in the low 30's, wind chill factor in the upper tween -- upper teens, low 20's. 18-23 degrees, the wind out of the northwest. we warm-up just a few degrees, 32 in the afternoon. sunshine will not make it feel better, the wind out of the northwest at 20-30, would not be surprised if we have localized wind gusts of 35 40 miles per hour.

temperatures will warm just a tiny bit on monday, tuesday, and wednesday. mid 30's. nighttime lows in the upper teens, low 20's. >> very cold. up next, meet a maryland baby already making news.

a maryland newborn may be

the first newborn of the new decade. a levee at ellen was delivered -- olivia ellen was delivered four seconds after midnight. her doctor asked her to hold off on delivering.

the toyota sports desk,

brought to you by your local toyota dealers -- moving you forward. >> filbert arenas spoke at length tonight outside of his locker following the wizards game at the verizon center on the allegations that he pulled a gun on a teammate. gilbert arenas denied the allegations and talked about his relationships. >> we were friends before, we are friends now. we don't have no problem. whatever happens happens. it can't do anything about that. catori about the negativity. -- can't worry about the negativity. it was bad judgment bringing them here, but i was trying to get them out of the house. the only place i could come was here. they stop talking long enough to play their game tonight against the san antonio spurs. he launched at half-court shot. that is good.

fourth quarter, the wizards trying to push for the victory. butler to our arenas, he fires. washington within one. down the stretch, the spurs were tough. tim duncan it is fundamentally sound and tough to guard. the spurs won the game. the washington capitals with problems o their own are trapped in their longest losing streak of the season. in action, taking on the los angeles in l.a. los angeles kings, the matinee against the caps. the power play, mike green, back of the net. we are tied. in the third, he maneuvers, short-handed goal. that was a back breaker. the final shot for the caps, alexander ovechkin with a chance, tries to bang home the rebound. he shut down. the 4-11 washington redskins

mercifully close their season sunday in san diego against the chargers. this season salt dreadful losses, changes in the front office, and a lot of speculation. some say jim zorn's tenure is over, so was the season, and it appears that the fans are the only ones anxious to get this over with. >> this year will stick with all of us for as long as we play. going through everything we went through this year, i think it helps, in a way, knowing, ok, this is something you never want to experience again. george mason starting the leake portion of their schedule. caa will be a walk in the park for mason, taking on old dominion. later, ty stretched their lead, 63-47.

the dish, the flush. mason wins the game. g.w. planning how word this afternoon. the slick pass over to thomas. he knows how to make it count. george washington, slicing into the lane, the hard way. he had 18. the colonials turn back howard. virginia tech hokies had to go into overtime tonight to beat seton hall. that is sports. >> old dominion asked george mason telling everyone to wake up. mason telling everyone to wake up. [ drill whirring ] thank you. excuse me, sir! can you tell me which coffee tastes better? "a," definitely. this one. thank you. in a national taste test, more hard-working americans preferred the taste of dunkin' donuts over starbucks. try the coffee that won. excuse me, sir!

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thousands of people in belgium braved the frigid temperatures to plunge into the north sea. they warm up with stretching before diving in. the water temperature was right around freezing. and i am guessing a lot of belgium beer was consumed. it is called tonight, the wind out of the northwest, wind gusts around 35 m.p.h., wind chill factor around zero. right now, the wind advisory set to expire at 4:00, but i have a feeling they will extend that. the wind will subside a little bit monday, high-temperature,

balmy 35 degrees. >> thank you very much. have a good night.